Lucas Alexander, the ninth Duke of Arlington, is a man who gets what he wants. So when he sees the alluring Miss Pippa Welby from across a crowded ballroom, he vows to make her his. But the bold and spirited Pippa has sworn never to marry into the haute ton. Now Lucas must win her the only way he knows how—one wicked kiss at a time.

The daughter of a wealthy tradesman, Pippa has been sneered at by the upper echelons her entire life. So when the duke arrives on her doorstep with an invitation to her own engagement ball—to him—in ten days, Pippa hatches a daring plan. She must lose the duke before the ball, or risk losing her own heart.

Every month, my local RWA chapter passes out milestone recognition awards. A silk rose for an agent/editor request, chocolate for rejections and a charm bracelet for the first sale. A cute little charm is added for every subsequent sale.

Welp, I finally, finally got my first sale bracelet yesterday! Squee!

I know it’s just a bracelet and I could probably find one for $5 somewhere online, but it isn’t about the bracelet itself—it’s about what it represents. Six years of blood, sweat and tears. Six years of obsessing over plot points, character arcs and sentence structure. Six years of wondering if it’d ever pay off, or if I was just kidding myself.

Don’t get me wrong, I still have tons to learn about writing, the business, everything, but my bracelet is there to remind me that I can do it.

The first piece of good news for the day is…its FRIDAY! Thank. God. This week has just crawled by. I’m looking forward to the weekend and my local RWA chapter meeting, which is on Sunday. I always come home exhausted, but inspired and ready to write. I’m hoping to get a lot of work done on the book this weekend, so wish me luck.

As one of my favorite authors, Anne Stuart, often says, “Nothing but good times ahead!”